Door lock



Nov. 29, 1966 J. H. ROETHEL DOOR LOCK Filed Sept. 14, 1964 INVENTOR.7227: /7, 7b.: 2 Z

United States Patent 3,288,507 DOOR LOCK John H. Roethel, South Miami,Fla. (5455 SW. 87th St., Miami, Fla.) Filed Sept. 14, 1964, Ser. No.396,294 12 Claims. (Cl. 292-53) This invention relates to latchmechanism for swinging doors, especially the doors of automobile orother vehicle bodies.

Of current interest in automotive design is the use of double-jawlatching mechanisms in which a striker pin is engaged between a pair ofopposed jaws to maintain the vehicle door in latched condition. Thepresent invention is embodied in an improved latch mechanism of thisgeneral category, and comprises a pair of opposed latching jaws orelements pivotally supported on the main plate portion of the latchmechanism. Both of the latching jaws are fixedly coupled to control orratchet plates which are engageable by pivoted detent or pawl means forholding the latching jaws in latched position. The latch mechanismincludes improved inner and outer manually operable actuating means forsimultaneously swinging or pivotally actuating the detent or pawl meansto disengage the same from the control or ratchet plates. Also includedare improved control means for selectively controlling the effectivenessof the outer manually operable actuating means in the actuation therebyof the detent or pawl means.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved door latchmechanism which will eifectively meet various requirements for vehicledoor locks, which is characterized by simplification and compactness inconstruction, which is easy and economical to manufacture, and which iscomparatively quiet, reliable and durable in use.

Further objects and features of the particular embodiment of theinvention herein illustrated will appear in the following description,reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thespecification wherein like reference numerals designate correspondingparts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation taken substantially through lines 11 ofFIG. 2 illustrating a door latch mechanism constructed in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation taken substantially through lines 22 ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the door latch mechanism taken from the sideopposite to that shown in FIG. 1.

Before explaining in detail the present invention, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and, not of limitation.

In the drawing there is illustrated, by way of example, a certainembodiment of the present invention as adapted to be applied to door anddoor frame structures of an automobile body. The latch mechanismcomprises a case plate 11 which is adapted to be secured, as by means ofscrews, to the inner side of the jamb portion or free edge wall of avehicle door (not shown), the case plate 11 having a flange 12 which isadapted to be positioned along an inner panel of the door. The presentlatch mechanism has a pair of pivoted latch devices comprising jawelements 13 (see FIG. 3) positioned at the outer face of the case plate11. Each jaw element 13 is provided with an integral shaft or pivotportion 14 which extends "ice through a suitable flanged aperture (notvisible) in the case plate. Suitable bearing means (not shown) areprovided within flanged aperture for journalling each pivot shaft 14 forpivotal movement and for holding the jaw elements on the plate portion.Each jaw element 13 is keyed or otherwise fixedly coupled through itspivot shaft 14 to a control plate 15, for a purpose to be hereinafterexplained. Each ja'w element 13 and its related control plate 15 for thepurpose of definition may be considered a latch device means.

Each jaw element 13 is a substantially triangular plate member havingits pivot axis located near its apex. The base side or the side 16opposite the apex is provided in the center with a semi-circular recessor enlarged notch 17 adapted to encompass a cylindrical striker orkeeper pin (not shown).

Each control plate 15 is provided with two peripherally spaced abutmentsor ratchet teeth 18 and 19. Cooperable with the abutment or ratchettoothed edge of the lower control plate 15 is a swingable multi-armeddetent or pawl means, generally designated 21, pivotally mounted on ashoulder rivet 22 secured to the case plate 11. The detent means 21 hasa vertically depending arm 23, the end portion 24 of which functions asan abutment or detent engaging portion cooperable with the teeth orabutments 18 and 19 on the lower control plate 15. It will be notedfurther that the detent or pawl means 21 is located above the lowercontrol plate 15, that the ratchet teeth or abutments 18 and 19 arelocated on the side peripheral surface of the lower control plate 15,and that the end portion 24 of the detent depends from the pivot axis ofthe detent means in position to engage either of the ratchet teeth 18 or19.

The upper control plate 15 is substantially similar to the lower controlplate 15 but is placed on its pivot shaft in inverted relation to thelower control plate. Cooperable with the abutment or ratchet-toothededge of the upper control plate 15 is a swinging detent or pawl 25pivotally mounted on a pivot stud or shoulder rivet 26 secured to thecase plate 11. The detent or pawl 25 is provided with an arm 27 whichextends in the general direction of the flange 12. It has a second arm28 which curves downwardly from the pivot stud 26 and terminates in ahook-like portion 29 which functionally is the equivalent of theabutment portion 24 of the arm 23 of the detent means 21.

When the detent means arm 23 abutment portion 24 and the hook portion29, respectively, are in position to engage the lower and upper controlplate abutments 18, the jaw elements 13 will be held in what is known asa secondary latched position. When in this secondary latched position,the relationship of these jaw elements to a striker or keeper pincreates suificient interference to prevent opening movement of thevehicle door. The door will not, however, be held against vibratorymovement in a vertical direction, and it is expected that the rattlingnoise that will ensue as the vehicle is driven about will call theoccupants attention to the fact that the door is not fully latched. Whenthe abutment portion 24 and the hook portion 29 are in position toengage the respective control plate abutments 19, as seen in FIG. 1,both jaw elements 13 will be held in final or fully latched position.

The detent 25 is directly coupled to the detent means 21 by a link 31.The detent means 21 has an arm 32 which extends in a substantiallyhorizontal direction toward the flange 12 of the case plate 11. Thelower end of the link 31 is pivotally connected to the arm 32 by a pivotstud 33 and the upper end to the arm 27 of the detent 25 by a pivot stud34.

Both detents are urged in a clockwise or control plate engagingdirection by a common or single spring 35. The

spring 35 is a tension spring anchored at its upper end to a stud 36secured to the case plate 11 and at its lower end to a stud 37 fastenedto the arm 32 of the detent means 21. The spring 35 urges the arm 32 ofthe detent means 21 upwardly, and the force of the spring is transmittedthrough the link 31 to the arm 27 of the detent 25. The arm 27 is thusurged upwardly and this results in the arms 23 and 28 correspondinglybeing urged in detent engaging direction toward the lower and uppercontrol plates, respectively.

To permit unlatching movement of the jaw elements 13, the end portion 24of the detent means arm 23 and the hook portion 29 of the detent arm 28must be moved out of abutting relation to the control plate abutments 19and 18. This may be accomplished from either the outside or the insideof the vehicle door through actuation of the detent means 21. Byactuation of the detent means 21 is meant the swinging of the latter ina counterclockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 1) against theresistance of the spring 35. Because of the link 31, suchcounterclockwise swinging movement of the detent means 21 is transmittedto the detent 25 causing corresponding counterclockwise. swingingmovement of the latter.

For actuation from the outside of the vehicle door the detent means 21has an upstanding arm 38 terminating in a flange 39. The flange 39 liesin the path of the inwardly movable stem 41 of a pushbutton or the likemounted in a door handle assembly fastened to the exterior surface ofthe outer door panel (not shown). This follows conventional practice inthe art.

For actuation from the inside of the vehicle door, the detent means 21has an extension 42 on its arm 32. This extension 42 is offset away fromthe case plate 11 and slightly projects through a slot 43 in the caseplate flange 12. The extension 42 underlies a substantially horizontallyextending arm 44 of a bell crank lever 45 pivotally mounted on a pivotstud 46 on the case plate flange 12.

The slot 43 in the case plate flange 12 functions as a guide for the endof the arm 32 and also limits its range of upward and downward movement.This eliminates the need of any additional stops for controlling therange of movement of the detent means 21.

The bell crank lever 45 is provided with a second or substantiallyvertically depending arm 47 adapted to be coupled by a draft link (notshown) extending to a remote control mechanism (not shown) mounted onthe inner panel of the door. When the bell crank lever 45 is swung in aclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, its arm 44 will swingdownwardly thereby depressing the arm 32 of the detent means 21. Thisarm 32 movement will result in the end portion 24 of the detent meansarm 23 being moved out of engagement with the lower control plate 15. Ashappened when the pushbutton stem 41 was actuated to causecounterclockwise movement of the detent means 21, counterclockwisemovement of the detent means 21 resulting from actuation of the bellcrank lever 45 results in counterclockwise movement of the detent 25 andtherefore disengagement of the hook portion 29 from the upper controlplate 15.

Provision is made for locking the latch mechanism to preventdisengagement of the detents from the control plates holding the latchjaws in latched position, the position shown in FIG. 3. In the presentlatch mechanism, this is accomplished by means of a locking lever (seeFIG. 2). This locking lever, generally designated 48, has a pair of arms49 and 51 which are in generally V-shaped relationship to each other.The locking lever 48 is pivoted at the apex of the V to the case plateflange 12 on a pivot stud 52. The locking lever arm 49 extends at anangle downwardly toward the case plate 11 and passes between the offsetextension 42 of the detent means arm 32 and the case plate 11. This arm49 terminates in a hook-like portion 53 which is adapted to pass underthe extension 42 of the detent means arm 32. It will be understood thatit is placed under the extension 42 only when it is desired to renderthe outer manually operable push button stem 41 inoperable to releasethe detents or pawls from the control plate abutments 19.

The hook-like portion 53 is movable into blocking position relative tothe extension 42 by actuation of the bell crank lever 45. As seen inFIG. 2, the arm 44 of the lever 45 is adapted to abut a lug orprojection 54 on the lower end of the arm 51 of the locking lever 48. Itshould be understood that the latch mechanism embodying the presentinvention is intended to be used with a remote control mechanism whichmay be operated to swing the lever 45 not only in a clockwise but alsoin a counterclockwise direction, as desired, and to hold it aftermovement in the counterclockwise direction in locking position. As hasbeen described, when swung in a clockwise direction the lever 45 isoperable to disengage the detent means 21 and the detent 25 from thecontrol plate 15 abutments. When swung in a counterclockwise direction,the arm 44 of the lever 45 will abut the lug 54 on the arm 51 of thelocking lever 48 swinging the latter in a clockwise direction toposition the hook-like portion 53 under the extension 42 of the detentmeans 21 arm 32. The remote control mechanism of necessity must be ofthe type which will positively hold the lever 45 in its counterclockwisedisplaced position against the resistance of a spring 55 whichencompasses the pivot 52 of the locking lever 48 and urges the latter atall times in unlocked direction.

When the locking lever 47 is in latch mechanism locked position, thedetent means 21 is rendered immovable. When the detent means 21 is heldagainst movement, the outer manually operable means (push button stem32) cannot be actuated to cause disengagement of the detents or pawlsfrom the respective control plates 15. The latch mechanism may, however,always be released from the inside of the vehicle door. Actuation of theinner manually operable means (bell crank lever 45) from door lockedposition first results in movement of the locking lever 48 under theinfluence of the spring 55 to nonlocking position (FIG. 2). The bellcrank arm 44 then picks up the arm 32 of the detent means 21 causing thelatter and also the detent 25 to be swung in detent disengagingdirection.

The present latch mechanism cannot be placed in locked condition whenthe jaw elements 13 are in unlatched condition. The relationship of thedetent portion 24 and hook 29 of the detents to the cam surfaces 56 ofthe control plates is such that the detents are displaced away from thecontrol plates when the jaw elements and the control plates are in latchmechanism unlatched position. The displacement of the detent means 21results in a downward displacement of its arm 32 to an extent suflicientto position the side face of the extension 42 in the path of thehook-like portion 53 of the locking lever 48. The latter cannot be movedinto its locking position shown in FIG. 2 until the extension 42 ismoved out of the way of the hook-like portion 53, as occurs when the jawelements and control plates are moved to fully latched position.

The foregoing also applies to a situation in which the jaw elements arein secondary latched position, i.e., when the jaw elements are in aposition in which the detents are holding the control plates againstmovement in unlatching direction through engagement of the detentabutment portions 24 and 29 with the ratchet teeth 18. The depth orundercut forward of each ratchet teeth 18 is such that the detents aredisplaced from their fully latched position to an extent suflicient tocause interference between the detent means arm 32 extension 42 and thehook-like portion 53 of the locking lever 48. Thus, in secondary latchedposition of the jaw elements the locking lever 48 cannot be moved intolocking position.

To complete the physical description of the present latch mechanism,attention is called to the tension spring 56 extending between the upperand lower control plates 15. When the parts of the latch mechanism arein the relationship shown in FIG. 1, the spring 56 is extended or undermaximum tension. Upon disengagement of the detents from the controlplates, the spring 56 will pull both control plates and thereby both jawelements 13 toward their unlatched positions. Upon the jaws 13 engaginga striker pin as the vehicle door is moved from an opened to a closedposition, the control plates 15 will be rotated in counter directionsagainst the resistance of the spring 56 to again place the latter underincreased tension.

The latch elements are mounted in an appropriate housing 57 (see FIG.3). The wall surfaces 58 and 59 of the housing on each side of theopening through which the striker or keeper pin is admitted acts as astop to limit the movement of the latch elements in opening directionand to insure that the latch elements are positioned so that they willbe ready to engage the striker pin as the door is moved from an open toa closed position. As the door is moved to a closed position, thestriker pin will seat in one or the other of the recesses 17. Thiscauses the strike pin to be guided into engagement with the recess 17 inthe other jaw element so that both jaw elements fully engage the strikerpin on opposite sides as they are swung against the resistance of theirrespective springs toward the fully latched position shown in FIG. 3.The detent abutment portion 24 and the detent hook portion 29 will thenengage the control plate ratchet teeth 18 or 19 so that the jaw elementsare restrained against movement L9/N in an unlatching direction.

In fully latched position, the center of the striker pin will be locatedsubstantially at the center of the circular notches or recesses 17. Infully latched position this center lies over center from a line drawnbetween the pivot axes of the two jaw elements. This relationship issuch that any forces tending to separate the two jaw elements will notbe in the direction of opening movement of the door but will be ratherin the direction of closing movement, and thus the tendency would be tourge the door more fully in a closed direction.

I-clai-m:

1. In a latch mechanism for a swinging door,

a support having a plate portion for disposition at the free edge wallof the door,

a pair of latch device means pivotally mounted on said plate portion forcounterswinging movement from an unlatched position to a latchedposition.

a pair of detent means each pivotally mounted on said plate portion forengagement with a respective one of said latch device means to hold thesame in latched position,

coupling means coupling said detent means to each other for movement inunison to and from latch device means engagement,

said coupling means comprising a link pivotally connected at each of itsends to a respective one of said pair of detent means,

and manually operable means engageable with one of said detent means toactuate the same and thereby the other of said detent means in detentdisengaging direction.

2. In a latch mechanism according to claim 1 in which:

a locking lever pivotally mounted on said support is engageable with oneof said detent means to prevent disengagement of the same and therebysaid other detent means from said latch device means.

3. In a latch mechanism according to claim 2 in which:

a spring means coupled to one of said detent means urges both detentmeans toward latch device means engagement.

4. In a latch mechanism according to claim 1 in which:

said one of said detent means comprises a multi-arm member,

one of the arms of said multi-arm member extending in latch device meansengaging direction,

another of the arms being engaged by the manually operable means,

and the manually operable means is operable from the outside of thedoor. I

5. In a latch mechanism according to claim 4 in which:

a locking lever is pivotally mounted on said support and is engageablewith said one of said detent means to prevent disengagement of the sameand thereby said other detent means'from said latch device means by themanually operable means.

6. In a latch mechanism for a swinging door,

a support having a plate portion for disposition at the free edge wallof the door,

a pair of latch device means pivotally mounted on said plate portion forcounterswinging movement from an unlatched position to a latchedposition,

a pair of detent means each pivotally mounted on said plate portion forengagement with a respective one of said latch device means to hold thesame in latched position,

coupling means coupling said detent means to each other for movement inunison to and from latch device means engagement,

said coupling means comprising a link pivotally connected at each of itsends to a respective one of said pair of detent means,

one of said detent means comprising a multi-arm member having a firstarm extending in a latch device means engaging direction and a secondarm extending at an angle thereto,

outer manually operable means engageable with said second arm to pivotsaid one detent means and thereby the other of said detent means out ofengagement with the respective latch device means.

7. In a latch mechanism according to claim 6 in which:

a locking lever pivotally mounted on said support is engageable with oneof said detent means to prevent disengagement of the same and therebysaid other detent means by said outer manually operable means.

8. In a latch mechanism according to claim 7 in which:

a spring means coupled to one of said detent means urges both detentmeans toward latch device means engaging position.

9. In a latch mechanism for a swinging door,

a support having a plate portion for disposition at the free edge wallof the door,

a pair of latch device means pivotally mounted on said plate portion forcounterswinging movement from an unlatched position to a latchedposition,

a pair of detent means each pivotally mounted on said plate portion forengagement with a respective one of said latch device means to hold thesame in latched position,

said detent means being coupled to each other for movement in unison toand from latch device means engagement,

one of said detent means comprising a multi-arm member having a firstarm extending in latch device means engaging direction and a second anda third arm,

outer manually operable means engageable with said second arm and innermanually operable means engageable with said third arm to actuate saidone detent means and thereby the other of said detent means in detentdisengaging direction,

and a locking lever pivotally mounted on said support engageable withsaid third one of said multi-arms to prevent movement of said one ofsaid detent means and thereby said other detent means in detentdisengaging direction by said outer manually operable means.

7 10. In a latch mechanism according to claim 9 in which:

said locking lever is moved into locking position in response tomovement of said inner manually operable means in a direction oppositeto that in which the latter is movable to cause detent disengagingmovement of said pair of detent means. 11. In a latch mechanismaccording to claim 10 in which:

the coupling between said pair of detent means comprises a linkextending from said third arm to an arm on said other detent means. 12.In a latch mechanism according to claim 11 in which:

a spring means coupled to said third arm urges both detent means towardlatch device means engaging position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS EDWARD C. ALLEN,Primary Examiner.

J. R. MOSES, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A LATCH MECHANISM FOR A SWINGING DOOR, A SUPPORT HAVING A PLATEPORTION FOR DISPOSITION AT THE FREE EDGE WALL OF THE DOOR, A PAIR OFLATCH DEVICE MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID PLATE PORTION FORCOUNTERSWINGING MOVEMENT FROM AN UNLATCHED POSITION TO A LATCHEDPOSITION. A PAIR OF DETENT MEANS EACH PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID PLATEPORTION FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID LATCH DEVICE MEANSTO HOLD THE SAME IN LATCHED POSITION, COUPLING MEANS COUPLING SAIDDETENT MEANS TO EACH